Emporium magazine, the new quarterly published by News Ltd for Myer has been out for a week today and is struggling. Beyond a supply model from distributor, NDD, which does not appear make sense – some newsagents who could sell the title were not allocated any and others who would sell 4 or 5 were allocated ten times this – the title is struggling.
First up there is the issue of collateral material. Very little has been supplied. This makes launching the title with any visual noise challenging. It makes the cynic inside me wonder about the newsagent role in the Myer / News Ltd / NDD partnership. Maybe our role is to give the title presence on the shelf more so than to achieve sales.? Hmm…
Emporium is a good product and certainly presents well in its category. The problem is that the category is well served so finding shelf space is difficult. I need new titles in the fashion area to work immediately to justify the premium space. In my store, after a week, Emporium is not working. We have located it in the fashion area as well as in a special display in a high traffic area near the counter.
I plan to give Emporium another two weeks. If I have not sold at least 10 of the 25 supplied I’ll return everything receive early. Carrying 25 copies until September if they are not selling does not make sense.
Mark your right, but a few weeks ago they sent out a voucher to all Myer One members that when they buy anything from Myer they get a free cop(http://upload.ozbargain.com/2007/04/30/47_emporium_magazine_-_free_issue_voucher.pdf) of the magazine & they still trying to rip people off by paying $5.95, they know it won’t sell in newsagents.